29 Jan Judgments Are Not Worth The Paper They're Printed On

The current economic crisis is making the debt collectors scared. When there’s no money to put food on the table, even a favorable judgment through the courts means nothing. “The judgment by itself doesn’t get you paid,” according to Cincinnati debt collection law firm Slovin & Associates partner Randy Slovin.

InsideARM is reporting that the old tactics of collecting money from consumers are out the window as unemployment jumps higher each day. Collection lawyers no longer have the ability to attach and garnish wages, because there is nothing to attach. Many consumers have already lost massive amounts of their personal goods and property through foreclosure, leins on real estate, repossession and other actions, leaving legal collectors without any resources to collect funds owed.

At no point, however, does the report acknowledge that the unyielding position of the debt collection industry during good economic times is partially to blame for the consumer’s bad situation now.

For example, wouldn’t it have been better for the debt collectors to work with the consumer to effect payment of the past due bills rather than copping to a hard-nosed “all or nothing” attitude?

Jay S. Fleischman is a bankruptcy lawyer with offices in Los Angeles and New York. He can often be found on Google+ and Twitter, where he shares information about consumer protection issues and personal finance.